Gents i’m experiencing severe headaches.
I have just got the car back together after doing a front end rebuild and after connecting the battery up and depressing the key fob button to de immobilise nothing happens. I can hear the fuel pump priming and the usual lights come on on the dash but it refuses to turn over. I have replaced the key fob batteries and recharged the vehicle battery (showing 12.89V)but still no joy.
Is there a sequence to go through to syncronise teh key fob remote with the immobilser in the car? I can’t find anything in the manual.
Is there anything else i could be missing? The alarm activates as soon as the door is opened! Nightmare.
Did the battery go fully flat ? Did you disconnect the battery at all ?
Try disconnecting the battery for 2 mins and then reconnect it - hopefully the alarm will sound a bit when you connect and all we be OK.
If not then the two modules have lost their pairing and your stuffed - either loop out the imobilisor or change it with stuff from ABACUS Alarms back in UK.
Try the battery disconnect first though
The battery didn’t go fully discharged/flat. It started OK on Friday and was parked for weekend but then when i tried to strat it on Monday it refused. The fuel pump is priming and the dash lights come on. Emerald causes rev counter to do normal sweep and thats it. I removed the battery and charged it overnight and its a healthy 12.68V. The battery was reconnected and the alarm chirps as normal. But goes off when the door is opened. The remote key fob would usually cancel the alarm but it doesn’t work. The batteries have been replaced in teh key fob. It’s as if it doesn’t r ecognise the immobiliser. Very strange. I have tried the earth straps on engine to chasis but they are all tight and free of corrosion. A
How can the two modules be out of sync? I have done nothing. Can they be resynced? When you say loop out the immobiliser do you mean dissable it? If so how can you give me a step by step guide please? I’m in NZ so the Abacus route in UK is a bit of a hassle. Who are Abacus anyway?
Your help is appreciated. Thanks
Hmmm
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Try disconnecting battery again just to be sure
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The stupid alarm is a botched job by Lotus - the standard Imobilisor from META can be paired but Lotus didnt make the key available so the Alarm unit under the dash is wired to the Imobilisor on the rear panel and paired at “birth” - if either unit forgets the pairing you cant re-pair it. ( no pun )
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You need to pull off the back panel and join some wires to loop out the imobilisor - I can send you a PM on that
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Abacus are a supplier of META alarms and know all about these problems and can supply replacement parts and advice.
www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk
Jez… if the alarm’s going off and the key won’t silence it, surely that’s more a problem with the key turning off the alarm (and hence the immobiliser) rather than a pairing problem between the immobiliser and the alarm brain right?
Do you have a second keyfob? Perhaps try that one?
I have tried both remotes with new batteries with no success. It appears there is no communication between remote and immobiliser. The alarm still operates when a door is opened but you can’t turn it off even disconnecting the battery doesn’t turn it off as it has a back up battery. The thing i don’t understand is it was all working Ok then 72 hours later it wouldn’t de immobilise. How can this happen? The car wasn’t worked on or moved in that time. Bizarre and very frustrating. Have you incorporated the immobilise in your new wiring harness or ditched it?
I have tried to disconnect the battery again but all i get is teh chirps from the alarma nd then as soon as i open a door the alarm siren goes off and i can’t silence it and have to wait until it resets itself. the unique code from the remote to the immobiliser isn’t being read surely. I can hear the fuel pump priming itself though so it must be surely/ Unless the pump isn’t deimobilised? Far out its mad. Like you say a typical Lotus botch. very annoying.
Who wants a cheap S1? Arhhhhhhhhhhhhh
A couple of things here:
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What is the battery voltage under load, ie. with electrics on? 12.89v is low for a fully-charged unit, I’d want to see about 13.5v really. You may find it’s dropping under 12v with any load on it;
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The alarm and the immobiliser can lose sync if the power has been disconnected or battery low for a period of time. Unfortunately the way they’re built doesn’t allow resync’ing. You can replace just the immobiliser if that’s at fault. This is a straightforward job, if a bit awkward at times due to access, but can be done.
You might want to try another battery first - that might solve the issue.
PM me if you want details of changing the immobiliser.
This does sound like the alarm is no disarming, can the alarm be removed easily?
Read this, ive been in the same situation …
http://abacuscaralarms.co.uk/alarmshop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=285
The Alarm has possibly lost the key code, who knows why … Italian electronics in a Lotus 
As you can read you cant just change the alarm unit you have to change the M36T as well.
If that is the situation then choices are:-
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Rip it out and loop the crank and coil immobiliser circuits
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Buy a new Meta 99/36T system
In both cases you have to access behind the dash to get at the alarm and siren.
M99T2 / M36T2 Operator Instructions
DISARMING YOUR SYSTEM : Pressing the hand held transmitter whilst your system is in the armed
or partially armed condition, will place the system in the disarmed condition. A single flash of the hazard lights
and the unlocking of the vehicle central door locking system will confirm this.
ARMING YOUR SYSTEM : Pressing the hand held transmitter for up to two seconds, whilst your system is
in the disarmed condition will arm the system. Two flashes of the hazard lights and the locking of the vehicle
central door locking will confirm this. The system LED will also begin to flash. During the first 25 seconds of
the arming or partial arming condition, it is possible to test the various alarm triggers by deliberately activating
them one at a time. A brief flash of the hazard light circuit will indicate confirmation that the respective input
has been received. The following protection is now in place :
- The vehicle is immobilised 2. Door open detection 3. Boot/bonnet open detection
- Ignition hot wire detection 5. Internal movement sensor
- Vehicle battery disconnection detection
If any of the above are activated after the arming period has elapsed, the siren will sound and the hazard
lights will flash for a 30 second period.
PARTIAL ARMING : Pressing the hand held transmitter for up to four seconds, whilst your system is in the
disarmed condition, will partially arm the system. 3 flashes of the hazard light circuit, the locking of the vehicle
central door locking system and the LED flashing confirm this. The system is now armed as above with the
exception that the internal movement sensor has been deactivated.
ALARM MEMORY FUNCTION : On placing the system in the disarm condition. The alarm memory feature is
automatically activated. If the system has been triggered during the previous armed condition, the LED will
indicate the trigger input responsible, for a period of 35 seconds as follows :
1 flash every 6 seconds � interior movement sensors
2 flashes every 6 seconds � door input
4 flashes every 6 seconds � bonnet/boot input
8 flashes every 6 seconds � ignition input
After 35 second period, the LED will extinguish, however the alarm memory function will repeat every time the
system is disarmed. To erase the alarm memory function, the hand held transmitter must be pressed whilst
the vehicle ignition is ON.
IMMOBILISER ARMING : The immobiliser will arm and disarm whenever the alarm is armed or disarmed
respectively. Alternatively, on disarming the system, the immobiliser only will rearm within 18 seconds unless
the vehicle ignition is switched ON. The LED will flash. Press the transmitter briefly to disarm the immobiliser,
the LED will go out. Disarming using the emergency contact key : To disarm the immobiliser only, in case of
emergency/lost transmitter etc, insert and remove the contact key into and from the receptacle.
ANTI HIJACK FEATURE : To protect the driver, passengers and contents from personal attack, the doors will
automatically lock whilst the vehicle is being driven.
AUTO RE-ARM : For enhanced security, the complete system will auto re-arm within 40 seconds of disarming
unless one of the doors are opened.
Ask your installer for details on selectable options.
NOTE : For all service and maintenance requirements, contact your local Meta agent.
Any unauthorised alterations to the system may invalidate the certificate of installation
How about one of these ?
As I said earlier, 12.89v (or 12.68V as you also state) is too low for a fully-charged battery if it’s healthy.
When it’s under load the voltage will drop, which may well be read by the alarm as one of the criteria to set it off.
Before trying anything else, I would put a known-good battery on it and seeing if this sorts things.
Nah i have swapped the battery with a new battery but still no joy. I will have to try and loop the immobiliser out of the system and i’m unsure how this is done.
Anyone got any clues please u2u me so the tea leafs viewing won’t be able to use the info to steal to order. Thanks
New wiring speaks to the alarm and immobiliser in exactly the same way as factory. Thankfully mine still works after being de-powered for almost 3 years!
The key remote talks to the alarm brain. The alarm brain talks to the immobiliser. Often the problem Exiges have with the META alarm is the alarm brain loses pairing with the immobiliser… meaning you can alarm/disalarm as usual, which is fine, but the immobiliser remains steadfastly ON, meaning you can’t crank or ignite the car.
As far as I’m aware, you can’t re-pair them because Lotus never kept or shipped with the car the code key to re-pair them.
The problem you seem to have Jez is that the key seems to have lost pairing with the alarm brain. This is a different problem, which may have the same inability to repair, but might be able to be fixed.
There was a thread on SELOC about it a while back.
As if by magic…
And more:
http://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/alarms/remote_controls/lotus_ellise_vx220_alarm.htm
Looks like you might have to send them back, and get a new keycard programmed to allow you to re-sync new keys.
Can’t you just get rid of the lot ?
Just as well i’m going home in early Jan. I have all the original keys and the red tag that contains the code for the keys. Just not sure whether they can be re synced as such. I have read quite alot in the past 72 hrs in a vain attempt to breathe life back into the bugger. I will attempt to loop out the coil and crank circuits if i can identify the correct wires out of all the black ones in the rear compartment. Any tips would be appreciates.
Yes i would like to do that. Its just a case of knowing what to cut out and what too keep i guess. I have never used the alarm in any of the 10 years of ownership. Pain in the ass if you ask me.